#Game Changers: Sam Eng – Reflections on #Unity 3D

Posted on October 6th, 2014

His first game was a line graphics game in high school controlled by direction keys followed by a simple first person shooter game. He talked about many issues faced by game designers. These included:

Using good programming practices, such as modular program design. Getting good feedback from initial users and participation at game jams. Make a game design document before coding, but don’t over plan since coding should start before everything is finalized as the game design needs tester feedback.

He did a detailed comparison between the Unreal and Unity3d game engines. Both have advantages. Unreal may be more efficient, but Unity is cross-platform and programming in C# (in preference to C++) speeds development.

Even though the entire game can be coded within Unity3d, Sam recommended looking at the store third party tools to speed development and provide a polished look if using graphics or avatars. He recommended ‘in control’ as an input manager of controllers (Detects the type of device and will map buttons to generic inputs.)

Consider the type of game and platform on which the game will be played. For instance, Wii U is the party console. PS4 and Xbox are more solitary players. This will impact the tools you use and the type of game you make since console manufacturers offer different licenses and dev kits. Also Unity3d may require an upgrade from the free license to the pro license.